North reaches semifinals

Seventh-ranked North Eugene held off No. 3 Corvallis 40-35 in the first round of the Class 5A girls basketball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Chiles Center.

North never trailed in the final three quarters but had to hold off a couple rallies by the Spartans. Corvallis got within 33-32 with just over two minutes in the game, but North got a layup from MaKenzie Ficek and then the Highlanders made five free throws down the stretch to reach the semifinals.

Ficek had 13 points and eight assists while Kristen Huff had 12 points and 12 rebounds for North Eugene.

Steve Mims covers Oregon football, men's basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. He has been a sportswriter at the paper since 1999 and covered high school sports while also reporting on Oregon football in the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl as well as men's basketball during their Elite 8 run in 2007 and trip to the Sweet 16 in 2013.